Va-room! Playing a car-racing video game boosts the brainpower of older adults, scientists find. The new results suggest that such games that train the brain might slow the mental decline that often comes with age.

Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco, and their colleagues created a video game called NeuroRacer. Participants drive a car on a narrow, winding road. Along the way, distracting signs pop up every few seconds. Players are told to keep to the middle of the r...